Brandy and Amanda are working together, studies continue, and we've been to a few interesting places. The gals have food allergies, which makes finding a menu item interesting.

Between regular meetings, I happily finish a little postcard-size "village."

#1: abstract wash in watercolor

#2: a second layer with edges

#3 Voila - a few strokes with a black pen
and a tad of definition with colored pencil

I also finally measure and cut a sofa slipcover (3 pieces that would have taken me 1/2 hour to design, cut out, and whip together, 10 years ago!) We'd hauled huge canvas painters' drop cloths along two years ago. I just never got around to doing anything with them. Now the sofa pieces are in my office, waiting to be sewn. Sigh. It's such an easy project.

The helper looks at the 12'X15' fabric I unfolded for cutting on the living room floor. She's my age. She just shakes her head, "You're going to sew something?"

Oh yes I am. Eventually. Maybe even today, between a team meeting, book edit, a visit with the gals, and class prep for the course I teach in 1 1/2 weeks...

Monday: studying on the porch

Brandy and Amanda are as wearied as we get from "ordinary" trips. After our Monday study, Amanda goes to lunch and 'a quick shopping trip ' with friends. They leave after 11, have lunch at Kampung Daun, and head to the main market in town.

At 5:30pm, I get a text that our friends are stuck in traffic, far from our place (well, not far in distance, just in time). They call a GoJek (motorcycle taxi) to liberate Amanda from the car and get her back home ... she arrives near 6:30, too tired to eat supper.

"How long did you shop?" I ask her.

Amanda's first GoJek ride

"Maybe 1/2 or one hour," she says. "We had lunch until 2 or 3, and then headed into the city." They got stuck in rush hour on the way back. It would have taken our friends an extra 1-3 hours on top of their own commute to bring her up to our house. (The GoJek is smart thinking, Claudia!)

Tuesday
The three of us leave at 9:30 for a study and go for lunch at a gallery Brandy wants to see. I am delighted: it;s the place Bramonos took us on our first day in Bandung. For me, it provides a special reminder of why we're here. But we gals make it home just before 4pm. Whaaat? Yup, that's typical.

When people ask if we've seen this or that in Bandung, mostly W and I say, "Not yet." We don't have time to sit in traffic for hours. It doesn't seem to matter what time of day, though the hours of coming and going for work are often almost a stand-still. Even with a driver, the pollution and noise is a distraction from the work we take along.

Wednesday
Katie arrived from Jakarta last night - she's a delight. Immersed in her masters program, she also brings a breadth of experience in community care that we appreciate.

After my online conference at 9, we have a team meeting at 11. Love love love our team! and the guests fit in so well. Ibu Sumi has made nasi goreng (friend rice) for lunch. We talk, think, and pray together.

Josue and Clau hop their motorcycle to run errands and get their kids from school. Brandy's going to teach at 3. Katie's working on her school project. Amanda's reading an assigned book. I start editing but need another key component from the book author. Run, run, walk, and wait. The story of life overseas.

Read more:*Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. Isaiah 43:18-21 NIV*The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established. Proverbs 19:21 ESV*Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. Hebrews 2:1 ESVMoravian Prayer: Your dream is bigger than our plans, dear Savior. Show us how to dream together, that our individual pride may be crucified and resurrected as hope for the world. Amen.